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. 2023 Mar 16;13(1):4349.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-31548-1.

Development of Ti-Al-V alloys for usage as single-axis knee prostheses: evaluation of mechanical, corrosion, and tribocorrosion behaviors

B O Pinto  1 , J E Torrento  1 , C R Grandini  1 , E L Galindo  2 , C A F Pintão  2 , A A Santos  3 , P N Lisboa-Filho  3 , F M L Pontes  4 , D R N Correa  5
Affiliations

Development of Ti-Al-V alloys for usage as single-axis knee prostheses: evaluation of mechanical, corrosion, and tribocorrosion behaviors

B O Pinto et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Single-axis knee prosthesis is an artificial biomechanical device that provides motion to amputees without the need for assistance appliances. Besides it is mainly composed of metallic materials, the current commercial materials did not group adequate properties for long-term usage or accessible cost. This study produced and characterized Ti-(10 -x)Al-xV (x = 0, 2, and 4 wt.%) alloys for potential use as single-axis knee prostheses. The samples exhibited a gradual decrease in the density values, with proper chemical mixing of the alloying elements on the micro-scale. The phase composition exhibited a primary α phase with a minor α' + β phase for the Ti-8Al-2V and Ti-6Al-4V samples. Due to their different atomic radius compared to Ti, the addition of alloying elements changed the cell parameters. Their selected mechanical properties (Young's modulus, Vickers microhardness, and damping factor) performed better values than the CP-Ti grade 4. The samples also exhibited good corrosion properties against the simulated marine solution. The tribocorrosion resistance of the samples was better than the reference material, with the wear tracks composed of some tribolayers and grooves resulting from adhesive and abrasive wear. The Ti-10Al alloy displayed the best properties and estimated low cost to be used as single-axis knee prostheses.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
EDS chemical analysis: (a) Semi-quantitative results and (b) Elemental mapping.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Phase composition analysis: (a) extended and (b) zoomed XRD profiles.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Phase composition and cell parameters.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Microstructural analysis: OM (left), SE-SEM (middle), and BSE-SEM (right) imaging.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Selected properties: (a) density and (b) mechanical values.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Electrochemical analysis: (a) OCP, (b) PDP, (c) and (d) EIS results, and (e) equivalent electric circuit.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Roughness changes with the electrochemical analysis: (a) Ra and (b) Rrms values.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Tribocorrosion analysis: (a) OCP and (b) COF results.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Topography of the wear tracks: (a) confocal 3D laser imaging at 10x and SE-SEM imaging at (b) 100x and (c) 1000x.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Estimated price to manufacture the samples.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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